Hey guess what? Your Facebook feed will soon be filled with movie and TV show activity from Netflix’s 25 million U.S. subscribers — something the streaming video rental company is undoubtedly very excited about.

Today President Barack Obama signed into law an amended version of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), a law that was originally created in 1988 to prevent businesses from sharing your physical rental history. The amended version explicitly allows rental services like Netflix to share their customer’s digital viewing activity on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, provided those customers consent to it.

The law’s passage means that Netflix will now be able integrate its subscriber’s accounts with Facebook’s Open Graph and Timeline, enabling friends and family to see what you’re watching, rating, or saving in real-time. It’s possible we also might start to see social media sharing buttons on movie summary pages and integrated within the video player.

Netflix has been campaigning to get the amended law passed for the better part of two years and made headway only recently when the Senate passed the bill last month.

So why is Netflix so intent on having this law pass? Well, the company has previously stated that Facebook Timeline integration in other countries has led to both more hours watched by its customers and higher subscription growth. (Other video services have reported the same results.) Netflix already has a massive domestic subscriber base for its streaming video service, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Timeline integration proves just as successful.

Via The Hill

Soon, Netflix subscribers in the U.S. will be able to connect their accounts with their Facebook profiles thanks to new legislation that the Senate just passed.

While the majority of digital media services have benefited from the social network giant, Netflix has previously been noticeably absent from Facebook’s Timeline feature due to a 1988 law that forbids video rental services from sharing a customer’s rental history. The current law, Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), was initially created for the purpose of concealing physical media rentals, but until now, Congress hasn’t clarified whether digital video rentals also fall under the law’s jurisdiction.

The new law should allow Netflix to automatically share your viewing activity with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and other social services. The House of Representatives, which has previously passed an amended version of VPPA, has also approved the new legislation. It should be signed into law as soon as it gets a signature from the president.

This is a big win for Netflix, which has been fighting for this kind of clarification for over a year. The company has previously stated that Facebook integration helped grow subscriptions and increase usage in other regions, such as Canada, Latin America, and the U.K.

Via Bloomberg

The senate is expected to vote on an amendment next week that would allow video rental services like Netflix to take advantage of deeper integration with social networks like Facebook.

Despite being the country’s largest streaming movie service, Netflix is noticeably absent from Facebook’s Timeline feature due to a 1988 law that forbids video rental services from sharing a customer’s rental history. The law, Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), was initially created for the purpose of concealing physical media rentals, but congress has refused to say if digital video rentals also fall under the law’s jurisdiction.

As a cautionary measure, Netflix, which offers both physical and streaming rental services, has operated as if the VPPA did apply to digital media. This is why services like Hulu feature deep Facebook integration, while Netflix does not. In February, the company also decided play it safe by settling a class action suit related to violating the VPPA, as VentureBeat previously reported. The settlement cost the company $9 million, and made them agree to delete all rental history data from a customer a year after they formally cancel their subscription.

Not being able to utilize Facebook is something that Netflix desperately wants for its U.S. service. Several media services — including Spotify, Ustream, Viddy, and others  — that previously integrated with Facebook’s Timeline have experienced huge traffic and subscriber growth. Facebook integration has also helped grow Netflix service in international markets, the company stated in its Q2 2012 earnings report.

But despite its setbacks, Netflix is taking steps to persuade congress to change the VPPA law.

In April, Netflix formed its own Political Action Committee (PAC) called FLIXPAC to help rally congress on issues important to its business (like a VPPA amendment). The company has spent a total of $395,000 this year on lobbying efforts, according to political news site The Hill. Also, the House passed legislation in December 2011 that would give Netflix permission to share data via Facebook with a subscriber’s consent.

The amendment, which Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) drafted, could be voted on next week as part of another cyber security bill. Leahy’s involvement is particularly interesting because he previously wasn’t keen on allowing rental data to be shared in any form. During a senate hearing in February, Leahy even described the aforementioned House bill as “dominant corporate interests (enticing) a check off in order to receive what may seem like a fun new app or service.”

Leahy’s change of heart could have something to do with senate democrats trying to gain support for an amended version of the Lieberman-Collins Cyber Security Act (aka the senate version of CISPA), which the senate is also expected to vote on next week.

Illustration by Tom Cheredar; Photo via Fox Business

The antiquated law, the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), prohibits companies like Netflix from sharing a person’s movie-rental history. The law was passed in 1988 after Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork’s video rental records were published in a news publication. At the time, the law seemed to make sense because a person’s video rental history does have the potential to affect public opinion about that person — especially when running for public office or being nominated for a public position.

Technology has moved on since 1988, however, and people are more willing to share information about what they’re watching now.

Last month, the House passed an updated version of VPPA that allows consumers to give a one-time consent to release their rental data — regardless of what format the movies are in (streaming video, downloaded files, DVDs, or VHS). Such a measure would allow Netflix to take advantage of social features on Facebook’s “Open Graph” platform. For instance, if you read a news story on Facebook using an app, that app will let all your friends know immediately what you’re reading. Netflix integration could do a similar thing for movies you watch through Facebook.

In fact, Netflix subscribers in Canada and Latin America already have access to the Facebook integration, so their friends can see what they’re watching. But that’s not legal in the U.S., thanks to the VPPA — which is why the House has proposed amending the law.

Unfortunately, a number of prominent Democratic senators don’t agree with the House’s proposed amendments.

Among those who spoke up against passing the House’s updated bill was Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who not only authored the 1988 VPPA legislation, but also the highly protested Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).

At the hearing Tuesday, Leahy described the House’s bill as “dominant corporate interests (enticing) a check off in order to receive what may seem like a fun new app or service.” And while this seems like a reasonable observation, further comments by the senator indicated that he really has no clue how Facebook works — especially not in regards to the new news ticker feature the giant social network implemented in September.

“A one-time check off that has the effect of an all-time surrender of privacy does not seem to me the best course for consumers,” Leahy added. A one-time “check off” that allows Netflix to do whatever it wants to with your viewing history probably wouldn’t be in a person’s best interest. However, under Facebook’s terms of service, a third-party application can only gain access to your Facebook profile for as long as you allow it to. Therefore, Leahy’s point is sort of invalid, and at the very least ill-informed.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who is chairman of the subcommittee in charge of the hearing, also criticized the House bill because it was unclear whether it would make movie rental companies obtain permission for every single movie a person rents.

“Streaming is the future of video, but no judge has ever decided whether or not the VPPA covers stream video companies,” Franken said. “I think it’s clear that the law does cover new technologies like streamings because it doesn’t just cover ‘pre-recorded video cassette tapes’ but also… ‘similar audio/video materials’”.

Franken said there’s a good chance that a judge may decide that the current VPPA law doesn’t include streaming media, which is why he doesn’t want to leave “the future of video privacy up to a judge.”

While I’ll agree with Franken on the necessity to update old laws to include new technologies, I disagree that “streaming” video privacy is any different than regular privacy. Currently, none of the other streaming media services (music, television shows, or radio/webcasts) are hindered by the VPPA. Yet, a revised law could change that.

Apparently, the senators don’t believe that a streaming service that provides unlimited access to movies is much different from a brick-and-mortar video rental shop from the 1980′s. To help out the senators, we can point out some obvious differences: Netflix’s streaming service, for instance, lacks the annoying late fees, membership ID cards, and that door in the back covered in hippie beads that only adults are allowed to enter.

Do your think we need new laws specifically for streaming media to protect privacy? Give us a shout with your thoughts in the comment section.